Trials
by blangyouredead
Summary: Pacific Rim AU: After Blake's accident in the jaeger five years ago, she's needed back but needs a new co-pilot


AN: Pacific Rim AU

_Alarms blared in Blake's ears, warning her of the damage her jaeger has taken. Her breath was quick, and her mind was racing in a panic. This was bad. This was so, so very bad. _

_"Blake!" She heard Adam shout, just barely heard above the chaos around them. "Blake, we can handle this, just hang on! It's almost done, we're almost there!" _

_Blake snapped back into where she was, feeling her right arm pull back curling into a fist and rocketing it forward, nailing the angry kaiju in it's neck. It let out a roar, a clawed hand rearing back, the other already having a grip on Blake's side of the machine. She felt it grip tighter, electricity surging in her side. She let out a small, stifled yell, pain gathering behind her eyes as she watched in horror the hand coming forward and ripping through the armored plating of White Fang's head. _

_The claws wrapped around the wires holding Adam to his spot, ripping them from the walls around them. With a triumphant, horrifying roar, it ripped Adam from his pilot seat, his own yelling in pain and Blake's name being drowned out by the roar, the alarms, and the blood roaring in his co-pilot's ears. But Blake didn't need to hear it, she felt the yell rip through her skull, adding another source of pain as the weight of the extra neural load slammed Blake's head. _

_The edges of her eyes started to grow dark with the sudden weight, and she could feel her wounds start to grow numb. She was going to black out and probably die. But not without taking the monster with her. With heavy steps, Blake swung a bladed arm, slicing through it's neck just as she lost her footing, both giants collapsing into the waters beneath them. _

_Water rushed in in a wave, overtaking the injured pilot. Black covered Blake's vision, the sound of the water crashing and breaking apart the inside of the robot being the last thing she heard before everything shut off. _

Blake sucked in a breath, pushing herself up onto her elbows in her bunk. She was covered in a cold sweat and felt sick to her stomach. She hadn't been able to escape that nightmare for nearly five years after the accident that made her retire from the Jaeger Program. Only here she was, five years later, back in her old bunk. She hadn't been in this room since the day she lost Adam. To be frank, she was surprised she could sleep at all that night.

She let out a long sigh, settling the nausea that rolled over her stomach. Today was the day she had to test the cadets to see who could pilot with her. She wasn't looking forward to it, really. She didn't feel comfortable with drifting with anyone that wasn't Adam; they had connected almost instantly and they were nearly unstoppable. A small part of her had been rather cynical, telling her that it wasn't likely that she would find someone carry her neural load with Adam's memory running rampant through her constantly. She shook her head, pushing herself up from the bed. Ozpin wanted her to try at least, and try she shall. But that hadn't meant it would work.

Blake walked over to her wardrobe, changing into a fresh tank top and sweats. She needed to be comfortable while showing these rookies a thing or two. Sliding her dogtags over her head and letting them rest over her chest, she left the room.

The halls had been much more busy nowadays than when Blake thought she ended her piloting career. The former army wasn't running as smoothly as it once was and felt disorganized. It made her heart feel heavy remembering the glory the Jaeger Program once had. Now, they were on the verge of shutting down.

_Apparently they really need the help if they're calling me of all people back into the damn things… _Blake thought bitterly. She shut the door to her room and turned into the hallway, heading for the training room Ozpin assigned for the trial. Blake needed to pick a co-pilot from this; she just hoped that one of—-

All of a sudden, with a loud oof, she crashed onto the floor beneath her along with the person who caused her to fall. They must have been running, Blake didn't even get a chance to see them before the collision.

"Watch where you're going, ranger." Blake groaned, pushing herself up onto her feet. She was finally able to get a good look at the person who crashed into her. Long, blonde hair obscured most of the persons features, but by the body type, Blake could tell that the person was a female. A scoff sounded from said ranger.

"Speak for yourself. Who the hell leaves their room looking down at the floor?" She said, flipping her hair over a shoulder and pushing herself up from the floor. At full height, she was fairly taller than Blake and caused the smaller woman to square her shoulders, trying to hold some sort of dominance over the Asian woman. Though, in reality, it only made the blonde chuckle and cross her arms, smashing any attempt Blake made.

"What's your deal, kitty cat? You look like you're gonna pounce." She gave Blake a daring grin. The nickname made Blake falter. She narrowed her eyes.

"What did you call me?"

"Uh…" The blonde's face fell a little in slight confusion. "Kitty cat?"

"Why?"

"…Beeeecause you looked like a pissed off cat?"

Blake set her jaw, taking on her position once more. "Do not call me that again." _There's only one person who can call me that, and he died a long time ago. _

Blake turned a shoulder, starting to head for the training room she was assigned to. "Get where you need to go, ranger. And watch where you're going.

"Aye, aye, Captain Tight-Ass." The blonde mock saluted, rolling her eyes. She turned and hurried back down the hall. Blake let out a long sigh and shook her head. These are the kind of rangers Ozpin was letting in nowadays? _No wonder this place has gone to the dogs…_ Blake thought bitterly.

—-

In hadn't taken her long to show up and size up the cadets she could see. She knew they all had potential, but with Blake's strict mental checklist, they had to have more than potential. They needed to have a connection. It needed to be fluid, but strong. It needed to be unpredictable, but not to the point that Blake couldn't follow it or easily match it. It needed to be balanced, but not steady. If they were balanced to the point of a standstill, nothing would work. They needed to play off each others strengths and weaknesses and become the same person. It was going to be a long process, but Blake knows that she'll find the person she needed in one of these people, some way, somehow. Though, after nearly an hour and a half of testing the cadets, Blake was starting to lose hope.

It was a long and painful process. A few of the cadets had come close, and even passed most of Blake's checklist, but something felt off. She didn't feel _it _there. She couldn't describe the feeling, it couldn't be put into words. It was just this gut instinct Blake needed to have in order to rightfully claim someone as her co-pilot. It was like trying to force two magnets of the same polarity together, it just wasn't going to work. She needed someone of the reverse polarity but still made the checklist.

"Four-two, trial over." Ozpin announced from behind Blake as she pulled up the younger cadet to his feet. She stretched out her arms, slowly twirling the staff in a hand. She scanned the crowd, waiting for the next person.

"Last cadet of the morning, Yang Xiao Long."

After a moment, a very familiar blonde woman worked her way through the large crowd. Blake set her jaw, and her grip on her staff tightened just slightly while the woman, Yang, worked with the staff in her hands, getting used to the weight.

"Well, well, well. Who would have thought _you _of all people were the esteemed jaeger pilot I've been hearing about." Yang smirked. Blake quirked an eyebrow.

"Dare I ask what you mean by that?" Blake dug the butt of her staff into the mat beneath her feet, and her hands rested on the top of it.

"Nothing really, you just seem a little too uptight to be able to drift with _anyone_, much less anyone here. But hey, what do I know? I'm not the seasoned pilot here." Yang twirled the staff lazily.

"I… take it you two know one another?" Ozpin asked.

Blake and Yang both responded at the same time though in opposition to each other, Blake saying no and Yang saying yes.

"Well, why don't you two figure it out while you fight, hm?"

Blake kept her eyes glued to Yang while she spoke. "That's the thing, Oz. It's not a fight. It's dialogue. Each person involved must carry equal weight and make it interesting and upbeat and work off each other's interests in some way. If one fails, the other overrides them and the conversation is lost." She pulled the staff out in front of her, holding each of the ends. A smug smile made it's way across Blake's face. "And judging from your vocabulary lack of respect for experience, this conversation will be over quickly."

Yang scoffed, pressing her tongue into her cheek. She stopped the twirling. "I see how it is, Kitty Cat. Let me show you a thing or two on how I've gotten into this program."

Yang gripped her staff and stepped forward hard, pressing her foot into the mat for stability. She held the staff close to her, her left hand near her face, and her right near her knee. Blake followed her lead, sliding into her own stance.

After a moment of muscle twitching and testing the waters on who was making the first move, Yang shuffled forward. The bottom of her staff struck near Blake's foot, and it was easily blocked, as was the top of the staff that was thrust near her face. Yang twisted the staff, aiming for Blake's left side. As she hoped, Blake blocked it and the momentary pause that came from it allowed Yang to shift her hands towards the butt of her staff and grip it like it was a long sword. She swung the staff over Blake's right shoulder, then her left. Blake ducked, slamming the end of her own staff into Yang's shoulder. Yang hissed in a short lived pained, looking down to Blake while holding her stance.

"One-zero." Blake commented in flat amusement. "All bark and no bite?"

"I'm just gettin' warmed up." Yang grit her teeth as she quickly shuffled back and to the side, still holding the staff as a sword.

With herself at Blake's side, she swung at her back. Blake threw her hands over her head, dipping the staff behind her to protect her back and then rocketing it forward to protect her front. Yang stepped and twisted to press her back against Blake's, slamming the her staff into the mat and catching Blake's back foot. The smaller woman gave a sharp breath in surprise before Yang flipped it up, effectively throwing Blake off balance and having her flip onto her back. Blake attempted to scramble back up to her feet but paused when she found Yang's staff mere inches from her chin.

Yang turned around to grin at her, pulling a hand away from her staff and squatting over Blake's waist.

"One-one." She smirked. "You're not the only one who can show-off, Belladonna." Blake stiffened her jaw with a scowl and pulled her staff out in front of herself, pressing the tip against Yang's collarbone and pushing her back. Yang rolled back over her shoulder to land back onto her toes, springing back up into a fighting position. Blake kipped up, stumbling for a very brief moment before snapping back into a stance.

As annoyed as Blake felt with how Yang was treating this trial, something clicked in the back of her head. She needed to be testing her, not besting her.

Goddamn this woman and her energy.

Blake let out a slow breath and gathered her self, relaxing a tense jaw. This time, instead of waiting for Yang to make the first move, she did, and what happened in the next five rounds had been nothing short of visual poetry.

There hadn't been any power shots, everything was smooth and despite the heavy blows that Blake knew Yang had in her, she knew the blonde was on the same page as her. Any points that had been rewarded to either girl had been well-deserved and half because of the fact they knew they couldn't make these rounds last so long. There had been competitiveness, but only to push the other along, to see what they can do.

The rounds flew by, and Blake heard the final round being called by their marshal.

"Three-three. Whoever scores the next point, wins the trial."

One look from Blake to Yang was all it took for the message to be passed to her. _Time for the big finale. _

Sweat beaded each others foreheads, and Blake realized how far they've been pushing themselves this entire trial. Yang wore a tired grin on her face, but Blake knew Yang could go for so much longer if she was allowed. After all, they had to get to the drifting test run at some point today.

Blake wasn't sure what entirely happened; it was all one big blur, literally, as they were twisting and turning and flipping one another. All of a sudden, Blake ended up on her back, her arms thrusting forward to block Yang's blow, their staffs perpendicular to each other.

_"Nín yī dìng huì kuài shǐ nín de dì dí shēng yù dì."_ Yang huffed in Chinese, a wicked smirk on her face. She pressed the staff down even harder, leaning in close to let her face come a little less than a foot away from Blake's. Blake grit her teeth, trying to return the sheer power Yang was forcing against her. She was barely able to translate what Yang said to her while so focused on her current position. _You live up to your reputation, Kitty Cat._

_"Vous n'êtes pas trop mauvais vous, Blondie." _Blake forced out her French in a breath. _You're not too bad yourself, Blondie. _Yang blinked as it brushed against her skin, feeling her grip falter and Blake pushing up against her. She wasn't sure what had happened, but now Blake was near straddling her lower waist, a knee at one side and a foot planted at the other, all with her staff pointed inches away from Yang's neck.

"_Mais vous avez toujours de se concentrer_." Blake reprimanded, though she didn't seem serious; if anything, Yang saw what seemed like a flicker of a smile at the corners of her mouth while she said it. _But you still have to concentrate. _

"Four-three. This trial is over." Ozpin sounded from behind them. Blake removed her staff, but didn't move from on top of Yang right away. Their chests heaved almost in unison from breathlessness, and Blake seemed to be in thought. The dark haired pilot looked at the blonde's face, scanning it. Yang felt a small, sultry smile grow across her face due to the position they were in. The inquisitive look on Blake's face disappeared in a scowl and her face grew just a degree or two hotter as her skin seemed flushed. Blake shook her head and stood up, allowing Yang to do the same and faced Ozpin.

"Miss Belladonna. Have you made a selection as to who you wish to accompany you in your jaeger?"

Yang looked to her side and watched Blake as she seemed to have squared her shoulders, and let out a breath. She locked eyes with Yang. She seemed to be scanning her again, and for some reason, Yang felt warmer. She could easily blame it on the workout she just had, but there was something sparking in that look. She just couldn't put a finger on it yet. Blake looked back to Ozpin.

"Miss Xiao Long."

Looks like they both had some time to figure it out. Hopefully before the world ends.


End file.
